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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Iona's Willard hired by Seton Hall

Iona's Willard hired by Seton Hall

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) -- Kevin Willard is leaving Iona to become Seton Hall's new coach.

A person familiar the hiring told The Associated Press on Sunday that the 34-year-old Willard has agreed to replace Bobby Gonzalez, who was fired on March 17 after a 19-win season that was beset by problems off the court.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the university isn't expected to announce the agreement until Monday.

Willard took over an Iona program that was in the bottom 10 among Division I teams in RPI three years ago and led it to a 21-10 record this season, earning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference coach of the year award.

A message was left seeking comment from Patrick Hobbs, the law school dean who has been overseeing the Pirates' athletic department since July.

The hiring was first reported by the Daily News of New York and MyCentralJersey.com.

Willard interviewed for Seton Hall's opening on Thursday, two days after school officials talked to Siena's Fran McCaffery about the job, and a day after they met with Mike Rice of Robert Morris.

McCaffery, who led Siena to three straight MAAC championships, appeared to be the front-runner before he agreed to fill Iowa's opening over the weekend.

A former Pittsburgh guard, Willard was mentored by Rick Pitino. He spent four years as a Boston Celtics assistant and followed Pitino to Louisville for another six years before going to Iona.

During his first year, the Gaels finished with 10 more victories than the previous year, one of the top turnarounds in NCAA Division I in 2007-08. They won two games the previous year.

Like Gonzalez, Willard favors an uptempo, aggressive game featuring a pressure defense.

Willard's hiring could lead to the return of one of Seton Hall's top former players. Ex-Pirates point guard Shaheen Holloway is Willard's No. 1 assistant and recruiter.

Willard comes from a basketball pedigree. His father, Ralph, was a head coach at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Holy Cross, and currently is the associate head coach at Louisville under Pitino.

Gonzalez was fired a day after Seton Hall lost in the opening round of the NIT, a game in which Pirates forward Herb Pope was ejected for hitting a Texas Tech player below the belt. Gonzalez also picked up his seventh technical foul of the season.

Forward Robert Mitchell, who was kicked off the team days before the NIT game, was charged the same week with robbing eight people at gunpoint in South Orange. He pleaded not guilty.

A week before this season started, transfer guard Keon Lawrence was involved in a traffic accident on the Garden State Parkway in which he was driving in the wrong direction, seriously injuring the driver of the other vehicle.

Lawrence was charged with assault by auto and driving with a suspended license, and was suspended for the first eight games of the season.